January 2017

DARK DAYS AND DARK TIMES…the news is relentlessly depressing and the garden is uninspiring. Pots of scented geraniums that normally survive winter in the shelter of the back porch sit shrivelled and lifeless, oh dear, what a way to start my first entry for 2017!

There are small areas of interest and looking closely I can see winter aconites pushing bravely through fallen leaves. I’m relieved that they survived the effects of summer weeding and find myself now feeling doubly mean for not liking their particular shade of ‘egg-yolk’ yellow.

Illogical admittedly, as I love the exact same shade in buttercups and Welsh poppies in summer, but acid-yellow primroses, snowdrops, white hellebores and lemony-yellow catkins seem somehow so much more suited to the grey skies and frosts of winter. I do know that some garden designers avoid using yellow altogether – perhaps a subject best avoided then?